Building-slab



K. WESSEL.

BUILDING SLAB. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 12, 1920.

1,400,1 15, Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET I- 2 23. v

Imus/v 7-0/7. Iva WESSEL,

' K. WESSEL.

Patented De. 13, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. t

l/YVf/YTU/i, 491,94 1755.554. ///5 flrro UNITED STATES? KARL WESSEL, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

BUILDING-SLAB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

Application flleu January 12, 1920. Serial No. 350,997.

To all whom it my camera: Y

Be it known that I, KARL' WESSEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in thecounty of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Building-Slabs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is directed particularly to an improved means for the'construction of buildings of felted fibrous heat insulating slabs or sheets made from various different kinds of fiber, such, for instance, as cereal straws, flax, hemp, wood fiber, or mixtures of any two or more of such fibrous materials. When made from cereal straws, flax or hemp, all of the shives or woody particles will be left with the fiber, and, in fact, a good material for this purpose maybe made from flax or hemp shives with such fibrous particles as are usually discarded with the shives at flaxand hemp mills where the better grade of fiber is used for other purposes. The fibrous stock should firstbe reduced to the form of pulp, but need not be reduced to such fine pulp form as would be used for making the better grades of paper.

The pulp is then formed into the proper slabs under pressure and dried, and when dried, will be in the form of a very tough and strong felted' material which, wh1le somewhat flexible and capableof being bent without breaking, is of such close texture that nailsjor screws driven into the same will find a good anchorage.

For the walls of buildings, the slabs will ,be made in thicknesses varying, say from two to six inches. These wall slabs, at the mills, may, in accordance with previously furnished designs, be made with the properly located door and window openings, but the door and window openings may be sawed out at the-place of erection, either before or after the'wall slabs are set in place. In any event, the wall slabs are made of sufiicient thickness and strength to carry the roof load from the floor structure without the use of T studding.

The surfaces of these slabs are of such nature that they may be used without plas both with water-proofing and fire proofing materials or substances.

For cheap buildin s, the inner surfaces of the slabs may be le untreated, or in their natural condition, but the outer surfaces which are exposed to the weather may be painted with water-proof paint or coated with cement.

These slabs are especially intended for the building of bungalows, or one-story buildings, and the ceiling andthe roof may also be made of these fiber slabs. The said fiber slabs. can be also utilized for floor facing, or upper surfaces, but when the slabs are thus used, their upper surfaces should betreated withsome material that will give them a hard smooth wearing surface. It is important to note that these wallforming slabs are not used as fillers for framed walls or the like, but eliminate the use of wooden framework or wooden structure and have both their outer and inner surfaces exposed either directl to the atmosphere or coated with a finishing material, such as paint or plaster, when desired.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my invention as used in building a bungalow. .In the drawings, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawin p 1 Figure 1 is a side elevatlon of the bunga- Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross section thereof; Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1 but with some parts in vertical section; and Fig. 4.- is a plan view corresponding to Fig. .2, but showing the outer walls made double to afford air spaces.

' Referring first to .the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the numeral 5 indicates the outer wall slabs provided with door and window openings fitted, respectively, with door and window frames 6 and 7. These outer wall slabs 5 are made about eight feet in height and, preferably, the full length or width of the building, although in large bungalows, the slabs may be divided.

The partition walls are indicated by the numeral 8, and these are formed with door openings in which the door frames 9 are set.

The numeral 10 indicates a suitable foundation, and the numeral 11 indicates wooden sills .on the said foundation. I The numeral '12 indicates floor joists supported from the ering, preferably having its upper surface previously furnished treated as above stated.

At their lower edges, the wall slabs 5 and 8 are securedto the floor by nails, lag screws, or other suitable devices, and preferably,

the ends of the slabs are set sl1ghtly into grooves 14 cut in the slabs against which they abut. 1

,At the outside corners, the abutting ends of the slabs 5 are preferably tied together and reinforced by outside corner strips 15 nailed or screwed thereto. At all of the inside corners the slabs are preferably connected by inside angle strips 16 nailedv or screwed thereto. These strips 15 and 16 may be made, either of wood or metal, or even of fiber board. If made of wood, each strip will be made up of two boards connected by nails or screws at their abutting portions.

JThe entire ceiling of the building covering the several rooms of the one fioor will be made of one or more, but pre'ferably several, heavy fiber slabs 17 connected by nails or dscrews to the upper edges of the slabs 5 an 8.

' The roof, also, is preferably made up of heavy fiber slabs 18 cut to properly fit at the ables and ridge and eaves, and supported rom the ceiling and upper edges of the walls slabs 5 and 8 by a suitable trussed framework 19,- either of wood or metal. The roof slabs 18 will preferably be covered with a suitable roofing paper or material 20.

A building constructed as described will not only be strong and durable, but will be awarm house 1n winter time and cool in the summer, because of the heat insulating qualities of the felted fiber slabs. The slabs, in large sizes, are capable, of being placed in flat cars, may be cheaply made at the mill andshipped with. door and window open ings, and the like, formed therein and cut to proper dimensions, all in accordance with plans, and obviously, the slabs may be qu1ckly erected to construct .the building.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 4 is like that already described, except that the 1 layers suitab outer walls are made up ofinside and outside felted fiber slabs 21 and 22 with firring strips, such as vertically extended laths 23 connected to and spacing the same apart, so as to afiord a plurality of air spaces 24, which further increase the heat insulating properties of the outer walls.

' The roof supporti wall slabs above detogether in a single or may be made up of a plurality of layer,

y secured together to form the slab; but in any event, they should be of sufficient thickness and strength to carry the roof load without the use of studding.

The so-called wall slabs above described will also be found highly efiicient for use as self-sustaining partitions in oflice buildings where it is necessary frequently to change theposit-ions of certain of the walls to meet the requirements of different tenants.

What I claim is:

1. A wall slab having substantially its entire mass made from vegetable fiber united in compact self sustaining form and of such strength, thickness and rigidity that it is adapted to support itself and a roof structure, when erected with its inner and outer surfaces exposed respectively at the interior and exterior of a building, and ofsuch su perficial area as to serve as the entire wall of a building.

2. In a building, the combination with floor and roof structures, of wall-forming slabs made of pulped vegetable fiber felted together in compact form and having such thickness and strength that they are self sustaining and of themselves support said roof'structure, the inner and outer surfaces of said slabs being exposed respectively at the interior and exterior of the building.

3. The structure defined in claim one, in which said wall slab is formed withopenings having reinforcing frames applied therein.

a. The structure defined in claim two, in which the wall slabs have window and door openings "formed therein.

5. The structure defined in claim one, in which the outer surface of said wall slab is treated with waterroofing material.

6. The structure de ned in claim two, in which the wall slabs on their outer surfaces are treated with water-proofing and fireproofing materials.

7. The structure defined in claim 2, in further combination with interior partitions formed of slabs of substantially the same character as the wall slabs.

8. The structure defined in claim 2, in which the roof is made of a felted fibrous material of substantially the same character as the wall slabs.

9. The structure defined in claim 7, in which the roof structure is made of a felted fibrous material of substantially the same character as said wall slabs.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in'presence of two witnesses.

KARL WESSEL.

Witnesses:

F. D. MERCHANT, HARRY D. KILGORE. 

